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The Council of Legal Education and a flood of Caribbean Lawyers
DEAR EDITOR,
The advent of the Council of Legal Education (CLE) in the region in 1973 has prompted hundreds of Caribbean nationals, including myself, to read law, because they did not have to travel thousands of miles to London in the bitter cold at fantastic costs. And now after 45 years, the Caribbean-trained lawyers have completely taken over not only the Courts and important legal departments, but a few are heads of government and state.
The Jamaican government first started to offer scholarships to bright young police officers to read law, since they had access to the University of the West Indies and the Norman Manley Law School (NMLC), and later, the Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados governments followed suit. In Guyana, officers of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) took legal training and today there are several officers and former officers who are lawyers and several active politicians read law, because it was convenient for them to do so in the region, including Robert Corbin and Moses Nagamootoo.
Today, nearly all the judges of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), the highest court of the land are Caribbean-trained, including President Adrian Saunders, a 1977 graduate, and the Chief Justices and Heads of the Judiciary of nearly all the countries in the English-speaking countries received their legal training in the region.
There are three laws schools, Norman Manley in Jamaica, Hugh Wooding in Trinidad and Eugene Dupuch in the Bahamas, and one can only gain entry until he or she obtains a Bachelors of Law Degree (LLB). The University of Guyana offers LLB degree courses and a few other institutions in the region also. Guyana’s quota is 25 per year, which some feel is inadequate, and as a result there was an attempt for Guyana to have its own law school. I should point out that before the Republic can achieve this, it must first obtain approval from the Council of Legal Education (CLE).
Belizean law students have difficulties in securing places at the NMLC, especially those who secured their LLB degree from the University of Guyana. Belizean UG graduates must pass a qualifying examination before they can gain entry. I should point out also that even English-trained lawyers cannot be admitted to practice in the region without a CLE certificate. They can do so after doing a six-month stint at one of the three law schools.
The introduction of legal training in the region is the reason why the Caribbean is flooded with lawyers, and some feel that there are far too many and the governments should focus on other disciplines. There is need for more agriculturalists, engineers, technical personnel like mechanics, carpenters, etc. In Guyana, with the possibility of a massive oil boom, there is need for technical training in this area, and it is time that those in authority focus in this direction and not allow foreigners to take full control of the industry.
Oscar Ramjeet
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